Host Delia D’Ambra isn’t stopping until she gets to the bottom of decades-old murder cases in ‘CounterClock’
Follow investigative journalist Delia D’Ambra as she turns back the clock in an attempt to solve decades-old cold cases in her wildly popular audiochuck podcast, “CounterClock.” Every season is just as compelling as the last, having covered the two-decade long unsolved murder of Denise Johnson, the 30-year-old cold case of Stacey Stanton’s death, and the 1989 Pelley family massacre.
Throughout this longform podcast, Delia has worked to shed new light on old cold cases that are in need of some reevaluation.
Now with three seasons under her belt, “CounterClock” has racked up a whopping 26,000 reviews on Apple Podcasts. The seasons range from 10 to 20 episodes long, diving deep to not let any details slip through the cracks. Episodes are typically 35 minutes long and should be listened to in chronological order.
In Delia’s first season of “CounterClock,” she revisits her Outer Banks hometown to open her own investigation into the unsolved 1997 murder of 33-year-old Denise Johnson in Kill Devil Hills, North Carolina. On July 13, 1997, authorities responded to what they believed to be a routine fire in a small one-story home in Kill Devil Hills, only to find Denise’s body inside the house. They soon found out that it wasn’t the fire that killed her, but someone had stabbed her multiple times before presumably setting the house ablaze to destroy any evidence.
Having grown up in the Outer Banks, Denise was well-known in the community. People figured that her popularity in town would ensure a swift investigation and conviction for whoever murdered her. Only, the conviction never came. Over two decades later, there’s still nothing.
Delia wants to take a different approach to this investigation. She wants to get to know Denise as best as she can in order to find the one missing link that may lead to her killer. She digs through Denise’s story, looking through documents, files, speaking with friends and family, and consulting with the original detective and first responders on her case. Delia exhausts all angles, looking into anyone who may have crossed paths with Denise the summer of her slaying, looking into acquaintances of Denise’s roommate, anything to find a new lead on this decades-old case.
The second season of “CounterClock” investigates a similar case also from Delia’s hometown of Manteo, NC: the 1990 murder of Stacey Stanton. While this one had supposedly been solved, after the viral success of “CounterClock,” people began to reach out to Delia about this case.
While Clifton Eugene Spencer pled no contest to Stacey’s murder and received a life sentence for the crime, many people, including investigators themselves, aren’t entirely sure that they got everything right. In the third season, Delia took a different route, diving into a case that is still wide open.
She plunges into the Pelley family massacre that saw a mother, father, and two daughters murdered and the eldest son, Jeffrey, convicted. But Jeffrey Pelley still maintains his innocence and many believe him. Could someone from his father’s’ past have finally caught up with him, or did Jeffrey truly kill his family in a fit of rage for not being allowed to attend his prom?
And in exciting news, the fourth season of “CounterClock” is coming soon, according to the show’s website. Delia has captivated a global audience with her investigative reporting and relentless search for the truth. She speaks with witnesses, persons attached to these cases, family members, friends, and investigators in order to piece together these true crime cases. Thrilling, bingeable, and entirely addictive, “CounterClock” will be your new true crime obsession.
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